Survey of American Literature (1)

The course provides students with an understanding of the themes and characteristics of North American literature from its origins to the 1900s with a specific focus on prose. The topics covered include the main trends in American literature; introduce literary works and themes of the most representative authors; discuss the socio-historical context that shaped the development of different literary trends. Critical reading of selected texts and writing on suggested literary topics constitute an integral part of this course.

To introduce literary works and themes of the most representative authors; and to discuss the socio-historical context that shaped the development of different literary trends.

English B2-C1.

1. Native North American literature. 2. The origins of North American literature. 3. Colonial and Puritan culture and literature. 4. The development of American Romanticism: Poe and Melville. 5. Philosophical prose and poetry of the 19th expressed in some major current linguistic and literary theories, and apply them in practice. literary theories to the analysis of American literature by representative authors. century: Emerson, Thoreau and Dickinson. 6. The origins of realism in American literature. Mark Twain’s literary works. 7. Women’s movement in the 19th century and its re-presentation in literature. Development of American regionalism. Kate Chopin’s works. 8. Naturalism in American literature: Stephen Crane’s existential views. 9. American Civil War and its re-presentation in literature. 10. The Civil War as a theme in Ambrose Bierce’s texts. 11. Development of philosophical realism and the origins of modernism in American literature.

1. The ability to demonstrate knowledge of basic critical trends and to use theoretical concepts in the analysis of literary texts. 2. The ability to relate literary trends and socio-historical contexts.